


The absence of trust

by aboutmikasa (Coco_c)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Multi, erumika - Freeform, erumika week, erurivamika, kind of, rivamika
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 17:10:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7810327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coco_c/pseuds/aboutmikasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>«He had to be sure the secrets behind her existence would not be used for shady purposes. Professional and nonprofessional interest for the mysterious girl demanded his attention, and a bullet resting inside him claimed the prisoner as his.»</p>
            </blockquote>





	The absence of trust

**Author's Note:**

> For erumika week, day 1: meetings

With every step his body ached, demanding for the comfort of his bed. The last forty-eight hours’ events had taxed his health more than usual but he had urgent matters to deal with. He didn't have time to rest, period; wounded or not the world didn’t stop spinning, neither his mind. It should be a simple mission, retrieving Dr. Jaeger’s serum with no casualties or problems. After all those years working for the Agency, Erwin should have known better. A textbook mission turned into a gigantic mess. Dr. Jaeger was missing and he ended up with a bullet in his chest shot by an unidentified woman. It could be worse, though. Levi saved the day and his ass. Even more, an interesting development changed their original plan.

He shouldn’t be walking yet, he promised Hanji to rest but, before Mike’s visit and the information his friend disclosed, he needed to see the prisoner with his own eyes— again. If Hanji was right about the girl, he needed to make a move before the Central had a chance. He had to be sure the secrets behind her existence would not be used for shady purposes.  Professional and nonprofessional interest for the mysterious girl demanded his attention, and a bullet resting inside him claimed the prisoner as his.

The screen showed the girl, sat on the floor, no visible signs of handcuffs or any other restraints. Her eyes fixed on her feet, ignoring the camera and Levi’s questioning. She wore simple black shorts and a sport’s bra; Erwin appreciated the impressive strength of her body. If during the attack they had had doubts about her, it became obvious that a rigorous training had shaped her. Levi asked for the Titans and the current location of Grisha Jaeger and she didn’t move, neither did she flinch when Levi traced the lines of her jaw with a dagger. For an instant Erwin wondered if she had the same defiant expression; nonetheless, black locks covered the tempestuous eyes that glared at him before she used his own weapon against him.

It should be no surprise that the girl shared similarities with Levi; still, Erwin thought the shorter man was the last genetically-modified soldier. The girl was younger than Levi, born a long time before the experiment ended, she shouldn’t be alive. Then again, he saw her in action, fighting against —what it seemed— a common enemy. Erwin had seen the same traits in his right hand and best friend; fierce and determination in every movement, feline grace, abnormal abilities, high tolerance to pain, and murderous eyes focused on their prey. Cold shivers ran through his spine. He had been her prey and he was alive because of Hanji. Back then, the girl acted more like a wounded animal than a predator; now, her cold demeanor controlled her actions— or lack of it. Funny, under their surveillance she didn't seem trapped and Levi’s attitude screamed caution.

Erwin leaned against the door frame, observing her. With time enough and no guns pointed at his head, his eyes lingered on the graceful and distinctive features. She was quite a beauty. Even the scars marking her skin had an alluring effect on him. The commander of the Specialized Group of Tactical Operations tried in vain to dismiss his thoughts. Her looks shouldn’t be relevant. He didn’t know her, he saw her once and she almost killed him, still, somehow he found himself attracted to her not just because she was pretty; when they fought, the girl had her face half covered and her winter clothes didn’t show the curves of her body. It was something more, a certain something that dragged him out of his bed, bringing him to Hanji’s Lab. He had tried to call it his duty. Before he lost consciousness, her gaze stopped on his and Erwin stared at her, trying to read her fathomless eyes. She could be an enchantress, perturbing his usually composed mind.

Attempted murder didn’t seem to be effective bait, but there he was.

 _If she had wanted, you’d be dead._ Levi warned him about her, and Erwin accepted the undeniable statement. However, she attacked them believing they were responsible for Dr. Jaeger’s disappearance and as soon as Hanji reasoned with her, the girl surrendered. As simple as it looked, Erwin doubted and asked Armin to check the Jaegers’ house.

_Why?_

She’d had the upper hand. Levi took her weapons but for one moment Erwin’s life was in her hands. His consciousness was fading and he didn’t listen to the exchange between the eccentric scientist and the girl, but Erwin felf her predisposition. She wanted something from them; that was his winning card. They wanted to use her and —apparently— they weren’t the only ones. Before he got the chance to talk to her and make his proposal, they needed to full confirmation of her identity and interests.

The scientist finished a thorough examination of the file in her hands before acknowledging his presence, her disapproval more than evident.

“Why aren’t you resting?” Hanji extended the file and Erwin pretended not to notice the scolding tone she used. Before Erwin read the documents, she confirmed his suspicions. “You’re right by the way, she’s an Ackerman.”

_Mikasa Ackerman_

His lips formed the words and his mouth curled into a sly smile. He was right. According to his personal file, Dr. Jaeger had a daughter; a girl, he and his wife adopted. No one suspected the little Mikasa Jaeger was, as a matter of fact, an Ackerman. The Doctor must do a magnificent work hiding her true identity and origin. They’d adopted Mikasa at sixteen. Hanji’s report said the girl’s scars covered arms and legs, most of them result of defensive wounds; the scar tissue, old enough to assume her wounds were previous to her adoption. Her story cloned Levi’s except that her benefactor came to her life sooner than his —If Jaeger was indeed her benefactor.

 

> _Grisha Jaeger, one of the brains behind the creation of the Ackermans. When the Central abandoned the Ackerman Project, he retired, focusing on his academic career. One year later, he got married and had a son. He worked on Genomics and Genome-wide association studies and became a Government's consultant_ — _Targeted by multiple organizations after the creations of an unknown substance, referred as the Jaeger Serum. Status: currently missing. Main suspect: The Titans._

The Jaeger Serum… Hanji tested samples of the serum, finding Ackerman traces.

Erwin looked at the pictures in her file, the Jaeger family. In most of them, Mikasa was next to a boy with vibrant green eyes, a vivid image of his mother. Eren Jaeger’s file had little information, even his social media deleted from the internet. Someone erased this family’s existence with extreme care. Erwin fixed his eyes on the screen again; she’d acted like a protector and he knew what to do to gain her cooperation.

His wide eyes showed his surprise when he read a post-it added by Hanji.

“Are you sure about this?”

_Was Grisha Jaeger her benefactor and father or just another one using her?_

“No one can be completely sure, Erwin,” Hanji answered, her own eyes locked on the screen, too fascinated with Mikasa to divide her attention. “There’s nothing conclusive in the Ackerman files, they deleted and burned most of the information. I can only tell you what my own sources had told me and what the genes expose.”

“But she’s an Ackerman,” he repeated the information, not because he doubted her report, Hanji never made mistakes. If she had told him the girl was an elephant he would believe it and bring peanuts as bait.

“She’s not pure as Levi, just half an Ackerman.” Hanji was talking when Levi closed the door behind him and sent a murderous glare in Erwin’s direction, a new disapproval for disobeying the doctor’s orders. Following the movements of the new arrival, Hanji made a pause and waited for Erwin’s confirmation. “The Ackerman soldiers were all males; and for the way you checked out her body and ogled her boobs, I’m assuming you’ve noticed she’s very _very_ female.”

“No need to point that.” _Was he that obvious?_

“So, she’s not a test tube baby,” Levi interrupted their deviation from the subject, much to Erwin’s gratitude; once Hanji had one of them on her hands, she could be relentless.

“I didn't see her parents bang, and there’s no way to be sure with nothing more than her DNA, but I’m putting my money on this. Her dad was an Ackerman baby and he knocked up her mom in a traditional way.”

“That’s speculation, Hanji,” Erwin pointed out the obvious.

The scientist shrugged, “They didn’t create Ackerman females and even if you’re suggesting they could, I doubt it. She’s twenty-two and you read what happened to the Ackerman babies,” Hanji offered an empathetic look to Levi but the man didn’t seem affected. “She was born three years before the end of everything; _three_ years. The timeline fits.”

“You’re thinking about the Dr. Arlert’s tales,” Erwin remembered the story about the fugitive soldier too; a nice young man escaping from captivity with Kenny Ackerman’s help. However, Dr. Arlert’s senile dementia made him prone to create stories and the elder loved to talk about Kenny, the index case. “He’s your mentor Hanji, I get that, but you can’t believe everything he says.”

“Still, she’s the only Ackerman female. You can’t say I’m biased too, Erwin. Unlike shitty-eyes, I was there.”

An awkward silence followed his words.

Armin’s call interrupted them; the boy had found what Erwin needed. Information was power and Erwin felt powerful when he ordered to proceed with the new mission.

Two hours later, Levi confirmed their success and the commander was ready to negotiate with the prisoner.

 

**

 

Mikasa ignored him, but he saw a faint movement before she noticed Levi standing next to the door. Soon Erwin understood, he should be more aggressive in order to get her attention.

“I have a proposal for you, Mikasa.”

The girl tensed when he said her name, and Erwin smiled; she had been two steps ahead of them.

“I’m not interested,” her voice came dry and menacing as if she had guessed his course of action.

His interest and curiosity increased; talking with her was like walking through thin ice. Still, he had to move fast, the Central suspected and soon they would be there. If he failed, they would take Mikasa. She was a valuable addition to his team; origin apart, combining her strength with Levi’s would make them invincible. And she was a key to one of the biggest mysteries in their era.

“Not even if I tell you I can protect Eren?” Mikasa clenched her fists, struggling to remain in control. “You did a good job deleting all the information about him. I’m impressed, Mikasa. Unfortunately for you, we have a genius who cracked your code.”

“I don’t know what are you talking about,” Her passiveness didn’t fool him this time; he learned his lesson, paying blood.

“Your surrender was a facade to buy time so your code could do its job. If I found the truth, someone else can do the same, Mikasa.”

“Straight to the point,” he heard the anger in her demand and Levi walked to his side. She was fearsome and threatening but she seemed to accept Levi’s strength as a powerful rival.

“I can protect Eren, Mikasa.” As Erwin spoke, Levi slid a tablet next to her and she read Armin’s hack; if they could do that, Eren would be safe. Every minute put the boy in danger.

“What do you want?” She didn’t even try to cover the reluctance and disgust in her words.

“I want you to join my team, Mikasa.” She inhaled hard and clenched harder her fist. “We don’t have time, Mikasa. You know many people are searching for Dr. Jaeger’s whereabouts and his son—”

“I’ll do it,” her defeated tone told him she had accepted more than once others’ impositions. “Do your part!”

He fulfilled her demand calling Armin and giving him the order; her eyes glued to the screen, and as soon as everything disappeared from the Central’s database, she breathed normally.

“Do you want blood to sign the contract?”

“You’re not selling your soul, Mikasa,” and he meant every word.

“Right… and I should believe you?”

Even Levi grinned at the idea. Erwin just forced her to join a lost cause, with no further information.

“Yes.”

“I don’t trust you,” venom filled her words.

“And you shouldn’t,” Erwin served her a glass of water; when she refused the liquid, he drank from it, as a token of consideration but she refused even more. “Trust, Mikasa, shouldn’t be a gift. People must work for your trust, and I’m pretending to win it.”

Her silence encouraged him to keep talking.

“I’m not your enemy. I can protect Eren, help you decipher your origin and find Dr. Jaeger.”

“That’s what you call your morbid curiosity about the Ackermans? I can do you a favor and tell you I don’t know a fuck about them or my parents. The only thing I can do is give your dog a bone,” Mikasa stared at Levi, before resuming her statements. “Kenny was my master too. He found me in the orphanage, trained me and left me. I haven’t heard from him in eight years, but he told me to say hello to Levi… and you’re Levi, aren't you?” The shorter man remained impassible, but Erwin knew better than anyone the real effect of her words. After a moment, she faced Erwin again. “I want to know the truth of my birth.”

“Maybe we can help each other?”

“Do you mean use each other?” She tilted her head, giving him —finally— a clear look of her face. Her eyes were fire.

“Semantics.”

A slow nod served as her agreement and he locked her eyes with his own for a long moment. He couldn’t read her intentions. The girl broke the staring contest and fixed her gaze on Levi, the information she gave him sinking in.

“We have a deal?” Erwin took her hand, small and rough.

At his actions, she returned her complete attention to him; her hand still captive in his grip. Erwin knew he must be careful if he didn’t want to burn.

“I guess.”


End file.
